The Gift
by Amelie Isabella
Summary: As Christmas rolls around at Hogwarts, Harry and Draco find themselves the unfortunate residents of the castle for winter term. Drarry.
1. Chapter 1

Draco couldn't believe he had to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas this year. His parents were taking a vacation to Aruba - without him - so he'd gotten stuck in this drafty castle for the rest of winter term. Almost nobody stayed over the holidays, so it  
was sure to be lonely and cold. Still, Draco had vowed to stay positive - no need to be snarky without Potter around.

As he entered the hauntingly quiet Great Hall, Draco came to the conclusion that at least some of the house elves had toremainat the castle over break as well, as food still magically appeared on the tables at mealtimes. Although the spread  
was considerably reduced due to the lack of students, there were still platters of food adorning each of the long tables. _That means there's at least some people from each house here,_ Draco thought. _Hopefully not too many of those obnoxious Gryffindors._ No  
sooner had this thought crossed his mind than the very person he had hoped least to see walked in: Harry Potter. He was followed by that cowardly Longbottom fellow, who looked rather like he was dressed to leave. Perhaps Potter would be leaving for  
winter term as well - at least, he could hope.

Harry, on the other hand, was paying no attention to who else was in the Great Hall, least of all Malfoy. He was used to spending his holidays here, after all, and had become accustomed to seeing a few familiar faces during the otherwise rather lonely  
holiday term. There were always a handful of Ravenclaws who elected to spend their holiday doing a study group, and a few select Hufflepuffs who would stay with their friends out of kindness. Most students, however, were decidedly absent during the  
month of December, a fact that remained true this year as well.

As Harry sat down to eat with Neville, who had missed the train and was heading out after breakfast, he suddenly became aware of someone staring at him from across the room. Turning his head cautiously, his eyes locked with Malfoy's. _Wot the hell is he still doing here?_ Harry  
wondered. As far as he was aware, the Malfoys usually spenttheir holidays traveling to exotic places or otherwise flaunting their money among the less fortunate. Seeing Draco skulking alone at the Slytherintable was certainly a surprise.

The thoughts of both boys wereinterrupted by Hagrid's voice bellowing throughout the Great Hall. Draco was only half-listening, thinking not very highly of the great oaf. Harry, on the other hand, was listening intently; Hagrid was saying something  
about a gift exchange between the remaining students, some sort of arbitrary pairing where they and their partner would give each other presentsfor Christmas. _Not a half bad idea,_ Harry thought, _so long as I get someone who I'm comfortable with._ As  
he mentally began running through the possible options, checking off everyone he knew to be regulars around the holiday season, Hagrid went on to discuss the type of gift; it didn't have to be expensive, but it should be heartfelt. Worth was measured  
in more ways than just monetary value.

Midway through his mental checklist, Harry startled at the sound of his name. Hagrid was looking at him expectantly, so Harry could only assume he was supposed to go up front. Hagrid was standing next to some kind of cup; although it glowed and spouted  
flames much like the Gonlet of Fire, it was smaller and had more of a gold hue. It was unadorned, but still looked rather intimidating.

"Whene'er you're ready, Harry," Hagrid said. He seemed nervous, but Harry couldn't blame him. It wasn't often he was put in charge of the entire student body. Harry carefully reached his hand into the cup, half-expecting to be burned while simultaneously  
realizing that that was never going to happen. His hand found a scrip of paper and he hastily retrieved it, anxious to get the ordeal over with. Unfolding it, Harry couldn't believe his eyes. By some horrendous turn of events, the name on the paper  
in his hands read _Draco Malfoy._


	2. Chapter 2

"Hagrid, I can't - you know I can't - _Malfoy?_ " Harry sputtered, incredulous. _Of all the bloody names to draw..._  
 _  
_

"Er... sorry 'arry, but rules 're rules. Ye can't change once you've picked." Hagrid gave Harry a pityinglook before announcing Harry's choice to the rest of the students.

At the sound of his name, Draco's head snapped up. _Bloody hell,_ he wondered, _what do they want now?_ As his eyes began to register the situation in front of him, they grew to the size of dinner plates. His mind was racing; he simply couldn't  
be seeing what he thought he was seeing. That couldn't be Harry Potter standing at the front of the room, clutching a scrip of paper with _his name on it,_ and looking like he was about to pass out.

Draco watched in disbelief as Harry left Hagrid's side and mechanically walked back to his seat, all the while Not Looking at the Slytherin side of the Great Hall. He felt as if he might vomit; he was **not** getting Potter a Christmas present. The  
thought was absurd! Still, he was afraid that great oaf Hagrid might be checking up on them, so he would have to come up with _something._

 __

Across the room, Harry was having very similar thoughts. What the hell was he supposed to get _Malfoy_ for Christmas? His parents were ridiculously wealthy, so he already had everything he wanted and more. Save for the rather... _nefarious_ gifts  
one teenage boy might give another, Harry was coming up with nothing to give the perpetually-scowling blonde.

As the rest of the students selected their names from the cup, Harry and Draco found themselves feeling sicker by the moment, dread creeping up their spines like a creature getting ready to feast. Eventually, the deed was done; everyone had a partner  
with whom to exchange gifts, most being satisfied with whom they chose. The two boys sitting in mutual silence across the Great Hall, however, did not share the same sentiment.

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Harry broke out his dad's old Invisibility Cloak and snuck over to Hagrid's Hut with the intention of talking him out of the gift exchange. To his surprise, however, he found Hagrid already had visitors  
\- two young girls, Hufflepuffs by the looks of it. Hagrid was speaking to them in hushed tones, as if afraid he would get caught harboring students out of bed. By whom, Harry didn't know, but it was enough to put him on his guard.

Creeping quietly up to the edge of the house, Harry crouched down and listened. Although he could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation, he could tell they were talking about the gift exchange.

"But I just don't know what to get him - can't I trade with Quella?" the first girl was saying. "She's so much better at giving gifts than me..."

Harry couldn't tell what Hagrid's reply was, but he assumed it was the same as the one he had received earlier, as the girls stormed out a moment later. The one seemed to be holding back tears, while her friend placed a comforting arm around her shoulder  
as they walked back to the castle. Seizing the opportunity of an open door, Harry slipped inside unnoticed byHagrid. Slipping the Cloak off of his shoulders, Harry made for the warm fire Hagrid had been stoking.

"Blimey, 'arry, y' nearly gave me a heart attack!" Hagrid exclaimed, grabbing his chest. Muttering to himself, he added, "all these students out of bed, it'll be my neck."

"Who were those girls, Hagrid?" Harry asked, perplexed by the idea of someone other than himself visiting Hagrid at this time of night.

"Oh, 't was nothin'," Hagrid replied, waving his hand as if to imply it's unimportance. "They was just havin' some trouble with the gif' exchange, is all. Nothin' to worry 'bout."

"They're not the only ones," Harry grumbled. He was still bitter about his partner, although he was becoming less and less convinced of his ability to change Hagrid's mind.

"I know yer mad, Harry, but there's nothin' I ken do," Hagrid replied, exasperated. "Rules 're rules, and that's the end of it."

Annoyed but becoming slowly accepting of his fate, Harry headed back to the castle under the protection of the Cloak. If he couldn't get out of the gift exchange, he was just going to have to come up with a gift. But what to get a boy who already has  
everything?


	3. Chapter 3

The Slytherin common room, being in the dungeon, was always cold during this time of year; _perhaps a blanket would be an appropriate gift,_ Draco thought bitterly, _if I were Potter's grandmother._ There wasn't a thing in the world he could imagine  
Harry wanting; as the Golden Boy, he need just say the word and he could have anything he wanted. _If I'd been paying him any mind, I might know what he's been talking about lately._ Unfortunately for Draco, however, he had not been doing so.

A train whistle sounded, signally the last of the students leaving for holiday. _That's it then,_ Draco pouted to himself. _I'm stuck._ Harry heard the whistle too, from the heights of Gryffindor Tower. Muttering about how he hoped Neville had  
remembered to get on, he began methodically sorting through his trunk, hoping to find some long-lost present he could hopefully regift. Several minutes later, however, and he had had no such luck. Deciding perhaps a nice relaxing bath was in order,  
Harry headed to the Prefect's Bathroom. Nobody would be around at this time to stop him, after all, so his only company would be the bubbles and potentially Moaning Myrtle.

Sure enough, Harry heard the familiar sound of a toilet exploding not moments after he turned on the water.

"Hullo, Myrtle," Harry sighed, equal parts glad and annoyed at the company.

"Hello, Harry," Myrtle replied in her usual wide-eyed way, "back again?" With no immediate reply, she went right on. "Why so tense? I can help with that, you know," she added, sidling up next to him hungrily.

"Er - no thanks, Myrtle. I just... don't know what to get someone for Christmas, that's all," Harry replied, resting his head back on the edge of the tub and closing his eyes.

"Ooh, who's the special someone?" inquired Myrtle, continuing to close the space between them. "It must be someone special, otherwise you wouldn't be so worried about getting it right."

Harry sat for a moment, lost in thought. He certainly didn't think Malfoy was special, did he? Not special, just... hard to get something for.

"No, not exactly," he eventually replied, sighing and sitting back up. "He's just... Malfoy."

" _Draco?!"_ Myrtle replied, squealing and swooping once around the room to land back at Harry'sside. "Ooh! _Finally!_ The whole school's been talking about it for _years!_ "

"Wait - what?" Harry started, but before he could finish Myrtle was back at it again.

"Something _romantic,_ " she went on; giggling, she added, "but if it doesn't work out between you two, you're always welcome to come share my toilet. A visit every now and again would be nice. I'm always so lonely!" Her words gotlost in a wail  
as she dove back into her toilet, and Harry sighed internally. _There's the Myrtle I know,_ he thought to himself.

Settling back into his bath, Harry reflected on what Myrtle had said. Was the whole school really talking about him and Malfoy being... _romantic?_ He found it hard to believe, but stranger things had happened. Aside from Myrtle's suggestion, he still  
didn't have any ideas for Malfoy's wasn't much time before Christmas, so he needed to get a move on. _A book?_ he thought, _or something from Borgin and Burke's?_ Racking his brain for anything Malfoy might like, he found  
himself coming round to Myrtle's comment again and again. _A bouquet of dead roses, perhaps?_ Exasperated, Harry drained the bath water and got dressed, heading back to the common room none the wiser as to what to get the fiendish blonde. 

* * *

With only two days left before Christmas, the small group of students left at Hogwarts was abuzz with talk about the gift exchange. Most everyone had already gotten their presents, and those that hadn't at least had an idea. At every meal, Harry and  
Draco pointedly avoided each other's gaze, as if ignoring each other would make the problem disappear. The gift exchange was all either of them thought about anymore; havingexhausted all normal options and finding them not suitable, however,  
they remained clueless as to what to get each other.

Harry wished desperately that his friends were here. With Ron in Romania visiting Charlie and Hermione on a cruise with her family, however, they were both out of contact until term resumed. He had tried asking Hagrid, but the idea of giving Draco a dragon  
egg for Christmas had not seemed very wise. Lost in thought, Harry almost missed the brooding grey eyes of Draco Malfoy staring at him across the Great Hall. Their eyes locked just long enough to acknowledge one another before Draco tore his away.

That night, Harry received an owl. It was carrying a note from Draco, which read:

 _Meet me in the Prefect's Bathroom at 10:00 on Christmas morning if you want your present._

- _Draco_

Harry swore under his breath. He had hoped their shared gaze earlier that day had implied that they just wouldn't get each other anything; apparently, he had been wrong. Harry read the note again; _the Prefect's Bathroom?_ he thought to himself. _What an odd place for a gift exchange._ Suddenly,  
dread filled his heart as he realized Draco might have been spending time there too - and talking to Myrtle. _Merlin's beard,_ he thought, _this is going to be quite the gift exchange._

Finally, the day arrived. Christmas morning at Hogwarts was a festive time, albeit much quieter than many of the other holidays. Promptly at 10:00, Harry wandered into the Prefect's Bathroom, unsure of what he might find. True to his word, there sat Draco.  
He looked like he hadn't slept well, but he had a small wrapped package sitting behind him on the edge of the tub that Harry could only assume was his present.

"Potter. You came," Draco offered by way of acknowledgement. "I see you got my owl."

"Er - yeah," Harry replied intelligently, "and, um, why are we in the, uh, Prefect's Bathroom?"

"I figured it would be deserted - which it is," Draco replied with a haughty confidence. "I didn't wantanyone getting the wrong idea about our giving gifts to each other."

Harry's heart dropped. So Draco _had_ been talking to Myrtle, then. Whether it was true was yet to be decided, but it certainly made this more uncomfortable.

"Right, then," Harry answered, anxious to get this over with. "Let's get on with it."

Taking his own gift out of the pocket of his robes, Harry thrust his hand forward as an invitation for Draco to take it. He did so, and casually unwrapped it as if it were the most natural thing in the world for the two of them to be exchanging gifts  
in a deserted bathroom on Christmas morning. The wrapping fell to the floor, revealing the book Harry had chosen.

"I - uh - hope you like it," Harry said nervously. He really couldn't care less whether Draco liked it or not - he just wanted to leave.

" _TheComplete Wizard's Guide to Ghouls, Ghosts, and Goblins: Where to Find Them, How to Catch Them, and What to Do if You Find Them in Your Garden,"_ Draco intoned, reading off the front cover. After a pause, he added, "Where did you  
find this?"

"Borgin and Burke's," Harry replied quickly. "It seemed like something you might like."

After examining it for a moment, Draco shrugged, an unspoken sign of approval. Taking the gift from behind him, he tossed it carelessly towards Harry with the words, "Here's yours."

Harry opened it hurriedly, wanting more for this encounter to be over than to know the contents of the impeccably wrapped present.

"New Quidditch gloves," Draco added by way of explanation. "Your old ones were looking rather worn out."

"Th- thank you," Harry stammered. He honestly hadn't expected such a thoughtful gift. Hastily stuffing the gloves into his pocket, he made to leave - but not before noticing the mistletoe Myrtle had hung on the ceiling between them. Following his gaze  
and look of horror, Draco took it upon himself to break the awkward silence.

"Looks like Myrtle is trying to set us up, huh?" he joked 's mouth felt like sandpaper and his limbs felt like he had been petrified. Draco kept right on going, however, as if nothing were wrong.

"I've never had a kiss under the mistletoe," he added thoughtfully. There was almost an air of wistfulness to his voice, though Harry was sure he was imagining it. "Pity, that. Don't you think, Potter?"

Jerked back to reality by the sound of his voice, Harry choked out, "Yeah. Pity."

Suddenly Draco was closing the space between them, a strange look in his eyes. He was walking slowly, as if he himself couldn't quite believe what he was doing.

"Nobody comes up here, you know," he whispered, stepping ever closer to Harry. "It could be our little secret."

Harry felt numb. _Is this really happening?_ He felt helpless to stop it, yet some part of him didn't want it to stop. He'd never kissed another boy, after all...

Draco was just inches from his face now, grey eyes burning. "If you don't want to, just tell me," he was saying, "but if your eyes say anything, I think you do."

Draco was right - Harry did want to, more than anything. The space between them disappeared as Draco planted a soft kiss on Harry's lips.

"Merry Christmas, Harry," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Draco," Harry replied. Perhaps this gift exchange wasn't such a bad idea after all.


End file.
